"A low-health elite monster... how can I resist going for the kill?"
Levi could clearly see that this arrow had shot the orc captain down to just seven hit points.
Execute threshold reached!
Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly climbed out of the tunnel and drew his sword before the nearby orcs could rush over, directly cutting down the orc captain and emptying his health bar.
With their leader dead, the surrounding orcs immediately fell into chaos without their core, and even the wargs seemed at a loss. Levi didn't miss this opportunity, stepping forward and cutting down several orcs and wargs together.
As the smell of blood grew stronger, an orc finally reacted, pointing at him and shouting, "Kill him! He's only one person!"
Clang...
Sword light flashed, and the warg beneath this orc had all four limbs severed, collapsing on the spot. Another upward slash, and the orc died instantly.
The temporary commander who had stepped forward was killed in an instant, and the orc squad immediately fell into chaos again. Some orcs continued charging at Levi, trying to kill this human first, but he only needed two strikes to kill them... not even a third was necessary.
Without unified command, the scene was chaotic. Orcs and wargs swarmed together in a mass, shouting and yelling at Levi in the center, but they never managed to form an effective formation, just going one or two at a time like the gourd brothers trying to save grandpa.
Those inside were fighting, while those outside only knew to crowd together and make noise, incidentally blocking the retreat route for the orcs inside.
There were orcs who tried to shout commands to unify the formation, but they would quickly be noticed by Levi, who would take them out first even if it meant taking more damage.
In this moment, he deeply understood the difference between having command and not having command.
When the squad captain was alive, Levi only dared to ambush... strike and run, not daring to make an extra cut, or he'd be surrounded a second later.
As for now, as long as he didn't want to fight, he could break through at any time.
The difference was simply too great. No wonder in the Battle of Five Armies, once Azog died, the entire orc faction quickly collapsed.
Without formation, unable to coordinate, and only knowing individual combat, soldiers in any faction would be headless flies, not to be feared.
Blood gradually stained his body, but the precious sword in his hand remained bright, conspicuous like a never-extinguishing star. This gleam of light also became the last light many wargs and orcs would see.
When this cavalry squad had suffered over half casualties, Levi was already planning to break through and flee. After all, their numbers were there... even if they all rushed forward in a disorganized attack, they could wear him down.
At this point, he only had half his health left, and his saturation wasn't enough either.
However, what he didn't expect was that the orcs started getting scared first.
Seeing half their companions dead, that human not only seemed vigorous without a trace of fatigue, but his wounds were actually healing.
It was too terrifying for the orcs... this thing simply couldn't be killed!
Sometimes, the most frightening thing about something isn't that it's difficult, but that no matter what price you pay or how hard you try, you can't see the slightest progress.
Although Levi's condition was already somewhat dangerous, on the surface he still appeared completely unharmed, as if all attacks were ineffective against him.
The blade had clearly stabbed into him, yet he acted like nothing happened, even able to pull it out and backhand-kill the orc who had stabbed him.
Once or twice wasn't frightening, but after three or four times, many orcs were completely terrified.
At this moment, Levi feigned ferocity, waving his long sword and shouting to scare back the orcs and wargs while frantically sneaking bites of beef jerky.
Only after his saturation was full and his health recovered did he really charge forward to continue the slaughter.
"I'm waiting for my health to regenerate... what are you waiting for?"
The smell of blood gradually spread.
The orcs who should die died, and those who should flee fled. No matter what, this squad no longer existed.
Over twenty cavalry, counting both wargs and orcs, left over forty corpses now covering the ground like a slaughterhouse.
The radiance on his long sword gradually dimmed, signaling the end of this battle.
At the same time, a series of system achievement notifications suddenly appeared:
[Rivendell Regional Faction Reached 100]
[Dúnedain Faction Reputation Reached 100]
[Faction Achievement Unlocked: Friend of Rivendell]
[Faction Achievement Unlocked: Friend of the Dúnedain]
"Huh?"
Levi opened the description.
Reputation reaching over 10 points meant the corresponding faction had recognized him, and their attitude toward him would become relatively friendly.
Reputation reaching 100 points meant that for this faction, he was an undisputed friend.
Well then, he hadn't even reached Rivendell yet and had already become a Friend of Rivendell.
Looking at the reputation change record again.
Trolls, orcs, and wargs... these were all enemies of the free peoples, and their deaths had all converted into his reputation.
Not just the Dúnedain and Rivendell... once his deeds spread, other free peoples factions' reputation would also slowly increase, though certainly not by this much.
Taking another bite of jerky and seeing the night was still young, Levi decided to continue looking for a few more trolls to visit.
However, this time, until daybreak, he had climbed mountains and searched several caves, running all night, but couldn't find another troll.
Finding trolls was also a matter of both luck and skill.
Seeing that his backpack had quite a bit of gold and silver treasure, plus the extra sword he'd gained, Levi decided to temporarily end his Trollshaws journey and continue toward Rivendell.
It was just a pity that he ultimately hadn't found those three trolls with vast treasures... fate had let them escape disaster.
Returning to the Last Bridge, he broke open the ground to find his horse safe and sound inside.
"...Being locked up for so many days must have been hard on you."
Levi gently patted the horse's head. The horse showed no reaction, just lowered its head to munch some grass, its eyes full of wisdom.
"Let's go!"
Mounting the horse in one step, he continued galloping eastward.
He ran like this until the evening of the next day.
While riding, Levi pulled out his map to compare positions, estimating that at the current speed, he could probably reach the vicinity of Rivendell before daybreak.
According to Faradon, there seemed to be a small path that led directly into Rivendell...
Whoosh...
In the blink of an eye, a sound of something cutting through air suddenly approached.
"Neigh!"
The horse beneath him suddenly reared up and stopped abruptly, nearly throwing Levi off.
Looking again, an arrow had somehow appeared in the horse's belly. Even with horse armor protection, it had directly dealt seven points of damage.
Turning his head, he suddenly discovered that a large patch of shadows had somehow set up an ambush beside him. Crimson eyes crowded together densely, staring straight at him and making his scalp tingle.
It was an orc cavalry unit.
By his estimate... over a hundred strong.
"Holy crap!"
Levi cursed and immediately turned his horse around to flee.
"What?"
This wasn't right!
The orc archer who had shot that arrow was confused. I clearly hit it... how could that horse act like nothing happened and still run so fast?
"Chase!" an orc issued the command.
Immediately, a group of warg riders charged forward, pursuing in an orderly fashion.
"Leader, it's him... he wiped out our entire squad in the Trollshaws..." On the spot, an orc rider timidly came forward to report, its warg also appearing somewhat dispirited, as if recently frightened.
"I know. That's also the head the King wants."
"I will kill him!"
Roar!
The leader's warg let out a howl and followed the main force.
"Unlucky unlucky unlucky unlucky unlucky..."
On this side, Levi rode his horse with his heart pounding non-stop. Damn orcs, so many targeting just him alone... have some shame! Is this really necessary?
After cursing internally, he had no choice at the moment but to run. After all, that was over a hundred warg riders, and they weren't even rabble. Looking at their equipment, they could be considered elite even among the generally poorly clothed Misty Mountains orcs... at least they all wore armor.
No matter what, this scale was absolutely not something he could face in direct combat.
Levi ran forward desperately, not daring to stop for even a second.
He ran like this for nearly half the night.
He looked back.
"Damn it, still chasing! Don't these wargs ever get tired?!"
Actually, there were many ways to deal with these pursuers. At worst, he could keep running and tire them all to death.
Even worse, he could dismount and dig three-fill-one on the spot, digging tunnels to escape. With the iron shovel's digging speed, he could manage to dig down three blocks before the pursuers reached him.
Or...
Just as Levi was torn about whether to take some additional action, he suddenly felt the ground ahead trembling faintly. Looking up sharply, he saw a neat line of silver-gray suddenly appear at the end of the plain ahead, reflecting subtle white light under the starlight.
That was...
Cavalry?
[Chapter Complete]
***
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